Zachary King, a former satanist, travels around the world telling people the good news about God's mercy. He shares his conversion story. At one time he was a high wizard of a satanic coven and has now become a devout Catholic.Zachary King recently gave a talk at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He told how the Blessed Mother saved him from a 26-year darkness. As a 12-year-old, King joined a satanic coven and got involved in child pornography. He said he was tricked into it because when he was 11, he was a victim of sexual assault. So, when he joined the coven, the adults who ran it convinced King to participate in child pornography using the logic of empowerment — reasoning that now it was his decision to participate in these acts and it was within his control. "I did this for four years, not realizing at the time that I was being re-victimized each time." King describes the atmosphere of this coven as a sort of youth center. Kids were encouraged to stop by after school if they needed a place to hang out. They could eat there. There was a pool there. The people who ran the coven also went to his church. In fact, he said, 11 of the 12 deacons at his church were members of the coven. He said he would get dropped off at the house on Friday nights by his parents, and the members of the coven would bring him home on Sunday or bring him to church. A member of the coven for 26 years, King said he ascended to the role of "high wizard." He said that during that time, he had not only been involved in pornography, he also assisted in 146 abortions and he helped split up 112 churches. Because he was so high up in the organization, there were a lot of people under him who were also committing serious atrocities, King said. He left the coven when he was 33, married his wife, Katie, moved to Vermont, and managed a jewelry store at a mall. In 2008, a woman by the name of Mary Ann, came into the store to purchase some earrings. She then gave him a small, golden disc, which he realized later was a Miraculous Medal — and she told him, "The Blessed Mother is calling you into her army." Then she told him that the object he was holding was very powerful, so he closed his fist around the object and, as he described, "suddenly, the world around me faded away." He remembers Mary Ann telling him about his past years of satanism and the occult, the magic, the abortions, and the sin. "Then the Blessed Mother appeared and took me by the hand and turned me around, and Jesus was standing behind me. This was what I was looking for," King said. When the Blessed Mother took him by the hand, the Jesus that I saw was Divine Mercy Jesus, he added, referring to the depiction of Jesus in the Divine Mercy Image, which the Lord instructed St. Faustina to have painted in 1931. "I didn't know what the rays meant, but the rays were all around me, going through me." King knew immediately that this was Jesus and that everything that he had done previously was wrong. He soon joined the Church that Mary Ann belonged to and became a Catholic. He became familiar with Divine Mercy, and when he saw the Divine Mercy Image for the first time, he realized that was the image that he had seen when Mary Ann gave him the Miraculous Medal and when the Blessed Mother took him by the hand. He believes that the Lord gave him this image because He wanted him to know that he could be forgiven. "Divine Mercy was my salvation," King said. There are so many people who don't believe that they are worthy of salvation because of their sins, King said. But, he explained, in the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father is merciful. And the story about the workers in the field who go out to labor at different hours of the day, they are all paid the same wage, he added. King said when he met the Blessed Mother in that jewelry store, she told him that his job now was to work to end abortion. He tours the country speaking out against abortion, and he and Katie counsel thousands of people who have been caught up in the occult and who have spiritual warfare issues through their All Saints Ministry. (Text edited from Divine Mercy Site of Stockbridge)

(Vatican Radio) During his Regina Coeli address on Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for the release of those priests and religious held hostage in Syria saying, "may the merciful God touch the hearts of the kidnappers". He also remembered young martyrs killed during the Spanish Civil War who were beatified in Burgos, Spain on Saturday.

Below is an English translation of the Pope's words before and after the Regina Coeli

At the end of this Jubilee celebration, my thoughts turn in a particular to you, dear boys and girls. You have come from Italy and from all over the world to experience moments of faith and fraternal conviviality. Thank you for your joyful and boisterous testimony. Go forward with courage!

Yesterday, in Burgos (Spain), saw the beatification of priest Valentín Palencia Marquina and four of his fellow young martyrs, killed for their faith during the Spanish Civil War. We praise the Lord for these courageous witnesses and to beseech their intercession to free the world from all violence.

I am always concerned about the brother bishops, priests and religious, Catholic and Orthodox, seized a long time ago in Syria. May the merciful God touch the hearts of the kidnappers and grant that our brothers and sisters will be freed as soon as possible and allowed to return to their communities. This is why I call you all to pray, not to mention other people abducted in the world.

Let us entrust all our aspirations and our hopes to the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy.

Following the Regina Coeli

Dear young people, you celebrated the Jubilee: Now return home with the joy of your Christian identity. Standing, head held high, and with your ID card in your hands and in your heart! May the Lord accompany you. And, please pray for me. Thank you.

Bella (2006) PG-13 | 1h 31min | Drama, Romance | 30 November 2007 (USA) One day in New York City changes three people forever. A Pro-Life Story: After Nina (Tammy Blanchard) is fired from her waitressing job for being late, she leans on the restaurant's chef, Jose (Eduardo Verastegui), for support. Though they don't know each other very well, Nina confides in Jose that she is pregnant and considering an abortion. Understanding that Nina is going through a tough time, Jose invites her to his home. They spend the day together and tell each other their most painful secrets, and what Nina learns about Jose changes her life forever. Director: Alejandro Monteverde Writers: Alejandro Monteverde, Patrick Million | 1 more credit » Stars: Eduardo Verástegui, Tammy

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis presiding over a Jubilee Mass for Teens in St Peter's Square on Sunday told them "the true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life." He also told the 13 to 16 year olds that although love is the path to happiness, it is not an easy one and requires effort. He also said, happiness has no price. "It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love."Below find Pope Francis' homily during Sunday's Jubilee Mass for Teens“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).Dear young friends, what an enormous responsibility the Lord gives us today! He tells us that the world will recognize the disciples of Jesus by the way they love one another. Love, in other words, is the Christian’s identity card, the only valid “document” identifying us as Christians. If this card expires and is not constantly renewed, we stop being witnesses of the Master. So I ask you: Do you wish to say yes to Jesus’ invitation to be his disciples? Do you wish to be his faithful friends? The true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life. Do you want to experience his love? Let us learn from him, for his words are a school of life, a school where we learn to love. Before all else, love is beautiful, it is the path to happiness. But it is not an easy path. It is demanding and it requires effort. Think, for example, of when we receive a gift. It makes us happy, but receiving a gift means that someone generous has invested time and effort; by their gift they also give us a bit of themselves, a sacrifice they have made. Think too of the gift that your parents and group leaders have given you in allowing you to come to Rome for this Jubilee day dedicated to you. They planned, organized, and prepared everything for you, and this made them happy, even if it meant that they had to give up a trip for themselves. To love means to give, not only something material, but also something of one’s self: one’s own time, one’s friendship, one’s own abilities.Look to the Lord, who is never outdone in generosity. We receive so many gifts from him, and every day we should thank him… Let me ask you something. Do you thank the Lord every day? Even if we forget to do so, he never forgets, each day, to give us some special gift. It is not something material and tangible that we can use, but something even greater, a life-long gift. He offers us his faithful friendship, which he will never take back. Even if you disappoint him and walk away from him, Jesus continues to want the best for you and to remain close to you; he believes in you even more than you believe in yourself. This is very important! Because the biggest threat to growing up well comes from thinking that no one cares about us, from feeling that we are all alone. The Lord, on the other hand, is always with you and he is happy to be with you. As he did with his first disciples, he looks you in the eye and he calls you to follow him, to “put out into the deep” and to “cast your nets wide” trusting in his words and using your talents in life, in union with him, without fear. Jesus is waiting patiently for you. He awaits your response. He is waiting for you to say “yes”.Dear young friends, at this stage in your lives you have a growing desire to demonstrate and receive affection. The Lord, if you let him teach you, will show you how to make tenderness and affection even more beautiful. He will guide your hearts to “love without being possessive”, to love others without trying to own them but letting them be free. There is always a temptation to let our affections be tainted by an instinctive desire to “have to have” what we find pleasing. Our consumerist culture reinforces this tendency. Yet when we hold on too tightly to something, it fades, it dies, and then we feel confused, empty inside. The Lord, if you listen to his voice, will reveal to you the secret of love. It is caring for others, respecting them, protecting them and waiting for them.At this point in life you feel also a great longing for freedom. Many people will say to you that freedom means doing whatever you want. But here you have to be able to say no. Freedom is not the ability simply to do what I want. This makes us self-centred and aloof, and it prevents us from being open and sincere friends. Instead, freedom is the gift of being able to choose the good. The free person is the one who chooses what is good, what is pleasing to God, even if it requires effort. Only by courageous and firm decisions do we realize our greatest dreams, the dreams which it is worth spending our entire lives to pursue. Don’t be content with mediocrity, with “simply going with the flow”, with being comfortable and laid back. Don’t believe those who would distract you from the real treasure, which you are, by telling you that life is beautiful only if you have many possessions. Be sceptical about people who want to make you believe that you are only important if you act tough like the heroes in films or if you wear the latest fashions. Your happiness has no price. It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.That is because love is a free gift which calls for an open heart; it is a noble responsibility which is life-long; it is a daily task for those who can achieve great dreams! Love is nurtured by trust, respect and forgiveness. Love does not happen because we talk about it, but when we live it: it is not a sweet poem to study and memorize, but is a life choice to put into practice! How can we grow in love? The secret, once again, is the Lord: Jesus gives us himself in the Mass, he offers us forgives and peace in Confession. There we learn to receive his love, to make it ours and to give it to the world. And when loving seems hard, when it is difficult to say no to something wrong, look up at Jesus on the cross, embrace the cross and don’t ever let go of his hand. He will point you ever higher, and pick you up whenever you fall.I know that you are capable of acts of great friendship and goodness. With these you are called to build the future, together with others and for others, but never against anyone! You will do amazing things if you prepare well, starting now, by living your youth and all its gifts to the fullest and without fear of hard work. Be like sporting champions, who attain high goals by quiet daily effort and practice. Let your daily programme be the works of mercy. Enthusiastically practice them, so as to be champions in life! In this way you will be recognized as disciples of Jesus. And your joy will be complete.

Fifth Sunday of EasterLectionary: 54

Reading 1ACTS 14:21-27

After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good newsto that cityand made a considerable number of disciples,they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.They strengthened the spirits of the disciplesand exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardshipsto enter the kingdom of God.”They appointed elders for them in each church and,with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lordin whom they had put their faith.Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.From there they sailed to Antioch,where they had been commended to the grace of Godfor the work they had now accomplished.And when they arrived, they called the church togetherand reported what God had done with themand how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Responsorial PsalmPS 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

R. (cf. 1) I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.or:R. Alleluia.The LORD is gracious and merciful,slow to anger and of great kindness.The LORD is good to alland compassionate toward all his works.R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.or:R. Alleluia.Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,and let your faithful ones bless you.Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdomand speak of your might.R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.or:R. Alleluia.Let them make known your might to the children of Adam,and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,and your dominion endures through all generations.R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.or:R. Alleluia.

Reading 2REV 21:1-5A

Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,and the sea was no more.I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,coming down out of heaven from God,prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.He will dwell with them and they will be his peopleand God himself will always be with them as their God.He will wipe every tear from their eyes,and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,for the old order has passed away.”

The One who sat on the throne said,“Behold, I make all things new.”

AlleluiaJN 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:love one another as I have loved you.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 13:31-33A, 34-35

When Judas had left them, Jesus said,“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.If God is glorified in him,God will also glorify him in himself,and God will glorify him at once.My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.I give you a new commandment: love one another.As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.This is how all will know that you are my disciples,if you have love for one another.”

He was born in 1577, at Sigmarengen, a town in Germany, in the principality of Hoinvenzollen. The name of his father was John Rey. The saint was christened Mark, performed his studies in the university of Fribourg in Switzerland, and while he taught philosophy, commenced doctor of laws. He at that time never drank wine, and wore a hair-shirt. His modesty, meekness, chastity, and all other virtues, charmed all that had the happiness of his acquaintance. In 1604, he accompanied three young gentlemen of that country on their travels through the principal parts of Europe. During six years, which he continued in this employment, he never ceased to instil into them the most heroic and tender sentiments of piety. He received the holy sacrament very frequently, particularly on all the principal holidays: in every town where he came, he visited the hospitals and churches, passed several hours on his knees in the presence of the blessed sacrament, and gave to the poor sometimes the very clothes off his back. After this he practiced the law in quality of counsellor or advocate, at Colmar, in Alsace, with great reputation, but with greater virtue. Justice and religion directed all his actions. He scrupulously forbore all invectives, detractions, and whatever might affect the reputation of any adversary. His charity procured him the surname of counsellor and advocate for the poor: but the injustices of a colleague in protracting lawsuits for gain, and his finding fault with our saint for producing all his proofs for his clients in the beginning, in order to the quicker dispatch, gave him a disgust of a profession which was to many an occasion of sin, and determined him to enter among the Capuchin friars. He first received holy orders, and having said his first mass in their convent at Fribourg, on the feast of St. Francis, in 1612, he consecrated himself to God by taking the habit. The guardian gave him, in religion, the name of Fidelis, or Faithful, alluding to that text of the Apocalypse which promises a crown of life to him who shall continue faithful to the end. From that moment humiliations, macerations, and implicit obedience were his delight. He overcame temptations by discovering them to his director, and submitting to his advice with regard to his conduct under them. By his last will, he bequeathed his patrimony to the bishop's seminary, for the establishment of a fund for the support of poor students, to whom he also left his library; and gave the remainder of his substance to the poor.

In regard to dress and furniture, he always chose that for his own use which was the least valuable and convenient. He fasted Advent, Lent, and Vigils, on bread and water, with dried fruits, tasting nothing which had been dressed by fire. His life was a continued prayer and recollection, and at his devotions he seemed rather like an angel than a man. His earnest and perpetual petition to God was, that he would always preserve him from sin, and from falling into tepidity or sloth in his service. He sought the most abject and most painful employments even when superior; knowing that God exalts those highest who have here humbled themselves the lowest and the nearest to their own nothingness. He had no sooner finished his course of theology, than he was employed in preaching and in hearing confessions; and being sent superior to the convent of Weltkirchen, that town and many neighboring places were totally reformed by his zealous labors, and several Calvinists converted. The congregation de propaganda fide, sent to father Fidelis a commission to go and preach among the Grisons; and he was the first missionary that was sent into those parts after that people had embraced Calvinism. Eight other fathers of his order were his assistants, and labored in this mission under his direction. The Calvinists of that territory, being incensed at his attempt, loudly threatened his life, and he prepared himself for martyrdom on entering upon this new harvest. Ralph de Salis, and another Calvinist gentleman, were converted by his first conferences. The missionary penetrated into Pretigout, a small district of the Grisons, in 1622, on the feast of the Epiphany, and gained every day new conquests to Christ; the conversion of which souls ought to be regarded as more the fruit of the ardent prayers in which he passed great part of the nights, than of his sermons and conferences in the day. These wonderful effects of his apostolic zeal, whereof the bishop of Coire sent a large and full account to the congregation de propaganda, so enraged the Calvinists in that province, who had lately rebelled against the emperor. their sovereign, that they were determined to bear with them no longer. 'The holy father having notice of it, thought of nothing but preparing himself for his conflict, passing whole nights in fervent prayer before the blessed sacrament, or before his crucifix, and often prostrate on the ground. On the 24th of April, 1622, he made his confession to his companion with great compunction, said mass, and then preached at Gruch, a considerable borough. At the end of his sermon, which he delivered with more than ordinary fire, he stood silent on a sudden, with his eyes fixed on heaven, in an ecstasy, during some time. He foretold his death to several persons in the clearest terms, and subscribed his last letters in this manner: "Brother Fidelis, who will be shortly the food of worms." From Gruch he went to preach at Sevis, where, with great energy, he exhorted the Catholics to constancy in the faith. A Calvinist having discharged his musket at him in the church, the Catholics entreated him to leave the place. He answered, that death was his gain and his joy, and that he was ready to lay down his life in God's cause. On his road back to Gruch, he met twenty Calvinist soldiers with a minister at their head. They called him false prophet, and urged him to embrace their sect. He answered: "I am sent to you to confute, not to embrace your heresy. The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages, I fear not death." One of them beat him down to the ground by a stroke on the head with his backsword. The martyr rose again on his knees, and stretching out his arms in the form of a cross, said with a feeble voice "Pardon my enemies, O Lord: blinded by passion they know not what they do. Lord Jesus, have pity on me. Mary, mother of Jesus, assist me." Another stroke clove his skull, and he fell to the ground and lay wetering in his blood. The soldiers, not content with this, added many stabs in his body, and hacked his left leg, as they said, to punish him for his many journeys into those parts to preach to them. A Catholic woman lay concealed near the place during this butchery; and after the soldiers were gone, coming out to see the effects of it, found the martyr's eyes open, and fixed on the heavens. He died in 1622, the forty-fifth year of his age, and the tenth of his religious profession. He was buried by the Catholics the next day. The rebels were soon after defeated by the imperialists, an event which the martyr had foretold them. The minister was converted by this circumstance, and made a public abjuration of his heresy. After six months, the martyr's body was found incorrupt, but the head and left arm separate from the trunk. These being put into two cases, were translated from thence to the cathedral of Coire, at the earnest suit of the bishop, and laid under the high altar with great pomp; the remainder of the corpse was deposited in the Capuchin's church at Weltkirchen. Three miracles performed by his relics and intercession, out of three hundred and five produced, are inserted in the decree of his beatification, published by pope Benedict XIII., in 1729. Other miracles were proved, and the decree of his canonization was published by Benedict XIV., in 1746. The 24th of April is appointed the day of his festival, and his name is inserted in the Roman Martyrology. See the acts of his canonization: also his life, written by Dom. Placid, abbot of Weissenau, or Augia Brigantina, published by Dom. Bernard Pez, librarian in the famous abbey of Melch, in Austria, in his Bibliotheca Ascetica, t. 10, p. 403.

To contribute to the conversion of a soul from sin is something far more excellent than to raise a dead body to life. This must soon fall again a prey to death; and only recovers by such a miracle the enjoyment of the frail and empty goods of this world. But the soul which, from the death of sin, is raised to the life of grace, is immortal, and, from a slave of the devil and a firebrand of hell, passes to the inestimable dignity and privileges of a child of' God; by which divine adoption she is rescued out of the abyss of infinite misery, and exalted to the most sublime state of glory and happiness, in which all the treasures of grace and of heaven are her portion forever. Hunger, thirst, watchings, labors, and a thousand martyrdoms, ought to seem nothing to one employed in the sacred ministry, with the hopes of gaining but one sinner to Christ. Moreover, God himself will be his recompense, who is witness, and keeps a faithful account of all his fatigues and least sufferings.